A Pure Cause
by Namikaze1200
Summary: "You know Naruto, our Father used to say, 'Some people, believe that destiny is not something we can change, but let me tell you this ; Change, is inevitable'." Naruto gave the man a questioning look, as they stood side by side. The man turned to look at him with a grin, "I think you might just prove Him right."
1. A Pure Cause : Pilot

_**A.N. Heya, this is my first FanFiction so you are going to have to bare with me. I have a lot of ideas for this story, and I hope I can take it as far as I can. Again, I don't really have any experience with writing, so please forgive any mistakes and if I complete embarrass myself xD**_

_**-Namikaze**_

_**Disclaimer:**_

_**I do not own Naruto. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto.**_

_**A Pure Cause : Pilot **_

* * *

Sasuke charged his Chidori, as Naruto stood on the other end of the vast lake occupying the Valley of the End. Naruto held out his hand as a ball of spinning chakra formed in his palm, ready to end this. Sasuke did the same as he clenched his left forearm, and lighting crackled to life in his right hand. They both new that they had to put everything they had into this last attack, and that this was going to end, here and now. In unison, Naruto, and Sasuke, flew through the air at inhuman speeds. Each holding their strongest jutsu behind them, they drew closer to each other. Finally, the moment came. Only a few meters apart, this was it. One small mistake would be fatal at this point. Their eyes locked as each of the gennin pulled their attacks forward.

**_"Rasengan!"_**

_**"Chidori!"**_

The two powerful jutsu collided in front of the Konoha nin, and a large black orb encased them, disturbing the flow of the waterfall above the two. The large black orb burst and light shown from it, encasing the Valley. As the light died down the two boys lay on the ground, unconscious.

The only sound heard in the Valley, was the downpour of the waterfall between the statues of the two legendary shinobi, Uchiha Madara, and Senju Hashirama. Sasuke and Naruto lay side by side, with Naruto's head at Sasuke's feet, and likewise for the other 13 year old. It seemed as though they both were in a state of peace, or agreement, as if they now had an understanding of each other. This battle with Sasuke intending to end his best friend's life, only proved to strengthen their bond.

* * *

Sasuke slowly awoke to the sound of subtle breathing by his feet, and water flow in the background. It seemed peaceful to the young ninja, until he remembered where he was, and what had just happened. He tried to sit up, but failed miserably, for a few of his ribs were cracked from when Naruto had bombarded him with a wave of fierce jabs. To add to the pain, using the curse-mark in the second stage for the first time, took it's toll on him. Out of the corner of his eye he glanced at Naruto's body, lying almost as if he was dead, but Sasuke new better.

_'I need to get out of here before an ANBU Team is sent to check what all the chakra surges came from. No doubt they know already.'_

If fate wasn't so hellbent on choosing a different path for him, he might have gotten up and walked away, but that wasn't the case. He felt the effects of chakra exaustion catching up with him, as his eyes slowly closed, and he fell into a temporary chakra induced coma.

Not long after that, a cloaked figure appeared without a sound, standing above the two boys. Crouching down, the silhouette lifted the gennin, one in each arm and vanished as quickly as they came.

* * *

Kakashi dashed at full speed through the trees, driven by worry and determination. His worry was caused by the lives of his two gennin. As for his determination, he was bent on getting to the battle in time, before it was too late.

_'I can't let Sensei down, not again.'_ Kakashi thought as he neared the Valley. He burst through the leaves and as he flew through the air he looked down at the destruction the Valley had endured. Scorched cliff sides, rough waters, and cracked ground. Kakashi stared wide-eyed at the devastation, as he marveled at the power that it would've taken to do such a thing. And a feeling of pride for his students washed over him, that they have grown so much. But then as he was still suspended in the air, he looked upon the Valley and saw no trace of life. That could only mean one thing. All training had abandoned him now, as he collided with the ground rolling half a dozen times. He shakily stood and looked over the rubble and with disbelieving eyes saw nothing still. Panic encompassed the legendary copy cat Kakashi, as he frantically searched for any trace of his students, for any trace of the two he now thought of as his sons.

As the rain started to pour down upon the Valley, Kakashi fell to his knees, the rain masking his tears as memories of his old team and of his students, coursed through his mind, relentlessly reminding him of the truth. They were gone. All of them. They were gone.

_'Why? Why is it that I always let them down?'_

He looked up towards the sky, and yelled,

"Is there something wrong with me?! I always let them down! I always lose them! Where did I go wrong?!"

Kakashi, continued to stare up into the clouds. He didn't expect an answer. The Jounin fell forward onto his face and lay there. After what seemed like hours, he slowly stood. He then walked towards Konoha, dreading the news he took with him.

* * *

Naruto awoke in a dimly lit cave. He sat up slowly and looked down to see bandages covering his entire body. Naruto then took in his surroundings, He was on a futon in this cave-like place, the walls were stone and there were candles, scattered across the room, each on the walls. He looked to his left, and saw something he never would have expected at this point.

Sasuke. He lay asleep on a futon, also somewhat covered in bandages. Naruto thought back on what had happened and remembered their battle.

_'I did it. I beat him, I got him back!'_ He thought with a smile. His smile quickly faded,

"I got him back to where?"

"I see you have awoken, Naruto. I was starting to think you never would." The gennin's head shot back up at the sound of the calm voice. He stared into the shadows, looking for any sign of the speaker.

"Who are you?" he demanded. Naruto's eyes widened at what he saw. There, from within the shadows, a set of cold eyes opened. Naruto's thoughts at that moment were,

_'Sharingan'_.


	2. A Pure Cause : Chapter 1

It was early morning in Konoha, the air was still cool, and damp as Kakashi stepped out of his apartment door, locking it behind him. He walked slowly, with his head down and a shadow cast over his eyes. His destination was the same as it always was on mornings like this. He wore his standard jounin uniform except he had left his green vest back at his apartment, since he didn't need it. Tsunade had given him a leave of absence the night before.

* * *

-Flashback-

* * *

Tsunade was tired. Very tired. She had been doing paperwork for hours, and was currently opening a drawer to grab a bottle of some much needed sake.

_'That Uchiha is going to be the death of me'_, she thought as she poured herself a glass of the alcohol. She was informed of the squad of gennin leaving the village by a chunnin only a few hours ago, she wasn't entirely happy once she was told who the Team consisted of, and immediately sent out an ANBU Team, to back them up or bring them back. She new Shikamaru led the squad, but she still couldn't believe that he would do something so daring. Although almost all of the Team have been brought back, some in critical condition, she still couldn't stop her worry for the blond idiot, that had somehow weaved his way into her heart. She thought of him as a son, or grandson maybe, and he reminded her of Nawaki, her little brother. As she took another sip, there was a knock at the door which made Tsunade jump. She quickly put away the sake, and called,

"Enter."

Shizune opened the door, and walked in carrying a few reports.

"More reports on the condition of Chouji and Neji. They aren't doing well and the medical ninjas have requested that a more skilled medic nin help them." She said, as she dropped the reports onto Tsunade's desk. Tsunade picked up the reports and quickly flipped through them. Looking up at Shizune she said,

"You go deal with this. I'll join you soon, just give me a few minutes to finish up these documents".

Shizune nodded, and turned to leave. She stopped a few steps away from the door, and turned around to look at the Hokage.

"He's going to be okay. He always makes it back, that's just how he is", she said with a smile. Tsunade nodded, and Shizune stepped out of the office, closing the door behind her. With a sigh, Tsunade went back to her paperwork but was soon interrupted as a figure entered through her window. She looked up quickly, and saw Hatake Kakashi kneeling as an ANBU would to report to her.

"Hokage-sama, the where-abouts of Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke, are currently unknown. Would you like an ANBU scout Team dispatched?", Kakashi asked with no emotion. Tsunade stared, unmoving.

"W-what?", she asked disbelievingly. Kakashi stayed in his kneeling position, and after a few moments replied,

Uzumaki, and Uchiha, are missing Hokage-sama.", Kakashi wouldn't say Naruto's name again, not only for Tsunade's well being, but for his too.

* * *

-Flashback End-

* * *

Kakashi reached his destination, and looked up to see the Memorial Stone. He spent a lot of his time here, coming here early morning almost every day to visit his old Sensei, and teammates. He walked over to the monument and placed a bouquet of white flowers he had brought with him, and sat down in front of it. His hand moved on it's own and with his finger absentmindedly started tracing the names over and over. The names of those who won't come back. The Hokage had refused to have Naruto's name grafted onto the stone, insisting that he was still alive. Naruto was labeled 'MIA' or, 'Missing In Action'. News of the failed mission, and the loss of two shinobi had spread through the Village like wild fire, rumors of the 'demon boy', loosing control and killing the last of the Uchiha, along with himself floated around. Most villagers had celebrated the death of the demon that had killed their families. While a small amount of shinobi mourned, mourned for the loss of Naruto. Naruto supposedly 'Dead Last', the one who had saved the village from the rage of The Shukaku. Naruto the one who was beaten and tormented, the one who grew up miserable for what he did not do. Naruto the one who, still cared for and saved this naïve village, that resented him. He was the village's saviour. But most of them were to blinded by rage to see it.

"You're here again too huh?" Kakashi didn't have to look up to know who spoke to him.

"I am."

Iruka sighed at the plain statement, and set his own flowers on the monument. He was here for his family, they had been part of the victims of the Kyuubi attack. Kakashi had always found it amazing how Iruka had been a mentor, or role model, for Naruto even though the Kyuubi was sealed within him.

"It's hard is it not? Knowing the will never come back, I mean." Iruka suddenly spoke, snapping Kakashi out of his musings.

"Yeah.", he replied after a few moments.

"When I think hard about it, my mind can't grasp it you know? I can't understand it, that they just cease to exist. I don't know. I'm not the religious type, so for me, death is just...the end.".

Kakashi sighed, and there was a long silence that followed. Iruka finally stood up and said,

"Well, it's time for me to get going. See you later Kakashi.".

Kakashi let out a grunt of acknowledgment, as Iruka left. Half an hour or so later Kakashi stood back up, and turned back towards his apartment.

_'This is going to be a long week..'_

* * *

Naruto sat unmoving, staring into the Sharingan eyes.

"Do not worry Naruto, I haven't brought you here to hurt you", the voice started calmly.

"You are here for a reason, that is yet to be revealed."

Naruto still wasn't entirely convinced, and again demanded, "Who are you?". There came a sigh as he heard the figure move. Out of the shadows stepped a man, wearing a black cloak that had a hood casting a shadow over the mans features. He reached up and slowly removed the hood, and stared at the gennin with an air of boredom.

"Do you remember me Naruto?" he asked. The mans hair was black and came down to his shoulders, with two long bangs, framing is face. Naruto's eyes widened in fear as he said,

"I-itachi". Itachi wore a smirk of amusement, as he replied,

"Correct. Again, I mean you no harm, my partner and I only want to help you Naruto."

"The shark guy is here too?!" Naruto yelled, trying to get up.

"No, Kisame is my partner within Akatsuki. He is not here." He stated.

Naruto failed to sit up, and fell back into his futon is pain.

"Don't strain yourself, that battle took it's toll on you. When I found you, you were nearing chakra depletion, which would normally kill a ninja of your level. But since you are not normal, you survived. If I hadn't got there at the right time that may have not been enough, but thankfully I did." Itachi said, slipping his hood back on. Naruto stared at him,

"You were there?"

"If I wasn't you wouldn't be here would you?" Itachi deadpanned.

"Where is here exactly?"

Itachi motioned around the cave.

"We are deep within a set of cave systems inside a mountain located in Kumogakure."

"Kumo?", Itachi nodded.

"We are in The Hidden Cloud..?"

"Yes." Itachi answered patiently. Naruto stared at the ceiling of the cave, slowly processing the information just given to him.

"Why did you save us?" He asked nodding his head towards Sasuke, who was still unconscious. Itachi continued to stare at Naruto until he finally answered,

"We have a plan for you.". Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"We?"

"My partner and I." Itachi answered plainly. Naruto gave him a dull look,

"Who is your partner?"

"That is none of your concern at this moment." Naruto sighed and finally gathered the strength to sit up. He looked around and then asked,

"You aren't going to tell me anymore than that are you?"

Itachi just shook his head. The gennin looked over to Sasuke and then to Itachi.

"You are siblings aren't you?", The missing nin gave no reply.

"Why did you bring him too? I thought you didn't care about him."

"I don't" Itachi answered.

"My partner has said that he needs the both of you for his plan to work." Naruto nodded.

"So it's your partners plan then?"

"Yes" he said. Sasuke stirred slightly, which caused Itachi and Naruto to look in his direction.

"What are you going to do when he wakes up? Sasuke hates you, so he's bound to try and kill you the moment he sees your face" Naruto said. Itachi just looked back at Naruto who was looking at him with a sense of curiosity.

"I don't plan on revealing my identity to him. Not yet at least." He replied.

_'That's reasonable'_ Naruto thought. They stay there in a long moment of silence, until Sasuke slowly awoke.


	3. A Pure Cause : Chapter 2

**A.N. Hi guys! I am so sorry about the late update. I just had a lot of things going on and never found the time to just sit down and write. But thanks for being so patient! Anyway here's the chapter.**

**-Namikaze**

**Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto. All rights go to Mashashi Kishimoto.**

**A Pure Cause : Chapter 2**

* * *

Sasuke opened his eyes with a start, and was slightly disoriented. As soon as he regained his bearings he attempted to sit up. Attempted being the key word. As he flopped back down onto his futon, his mind wandered through the memories of the previous night.

_'I didn't escape.'_ He thought. He then sensed the presence of two other people in the dark cave. Immediately, his guard was up. He turned towards the other two people in the cave and was surprised as he saw his best friend sat up in a futon to his right.

"Naruto..?"

"Morning teme" The blond replied with a smirk. Sasuke was dumbfounded and continued to stare at him.

"You know if you don't stop looking at me like that, I might think you're coming on to me." Naruto said bemusedly. The raven haired gennin glared at his friend and asked,

"Just tell me where we are."

"You are inside a system of tunnels within a mountain in Kumogakure." A different voice answered him. Sasuke's gaze quickly shot towards the hooded man and narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you?" He demanded venomously.

"He saved us, Sasuke. His intentions are not harmful." Naruto assured him. Sasuke didn't turn to look at Naruto as he said,

"Answer the question."

The figure continued to stare at him from the shadows his hood provided and then finally answered.

"That is none of your concern right now, Sasuke." The gennin growled,

"How do you know my name?!"

"Because he heard me say it while we where talking.." Naruto deadpanned. The raven haired boy took a moment to calm himself and then asked,

"Why did you save us?"

Itachi remained silent for a moment then replied with,

"My partner has a plan for the two of you." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"What kind of plan?"

"I told you he isn't going to hurt us" Naruto cut in. Sasuke let the subject drop with a sigh, and then lay back down.

Naruto turned towards Itachi.

"Where is your partner?" He asked. Itachi looked towards him,

"He is in the nearest town, gathering the needed supplies." Sasuke's interest peaked.

"Supplies for what?" The young Uchiha asked.

"Our journey of course."

"A journey huh? Where are we going?" Naruto inquired.

"Somewhere" he said. Naruto gave him a blank stare.

"What about Konoha though? We need to return! They probably think we're dead.." he finished quietly.

Sasuke sat up and looked over to his friend.

_'He isn't mad that I left, or at least hasn't realized it yet.'_

"I made a promise to Sakura," He pointed to Sasuke, "To bring him back!" He exclaimed.

"How am I supposed to do that if I don't even go back?" He said. Itachi stared into the blond's eyes until he finally said,

"You will go back eventually."

Naruto looked at him curiously.

"When?" He asked.

"That's up to my partner." Itachi said.

* * *

Ten gennin sat in a restaurant, all of whom where quite solemn. It had been two days since the failure of the Sasuke retrieval mission and most of them had recovered almost completely. They sat in silence as some of them played with their food while others simply stared off into space. These gennin were Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Sakura. All of which were friends with the blond haired idiot. Soon Shikamaru finally stood and payed for the meal. He walked back to the large table and said,

"Come on guys, it'll be sunset soon so we've got to go and see him." A few of them nodded and they left, with their food untouched.

The group were given a wide berth as they walked through the streets. Most of the villagers were disgusted with them for even associating themselves with Naruto. They halted outside of a flower shop owned by Ino's family. The blond girl walked into the shop and went to one of the many racks of flowers. She took a bouquet of white flowers and walked to the counter. She put in some money for the flowers and left quickly before her parents could notice her presence.

She walked to the gennin and nodded to them, and they again kept walking in complete silence. The ten gennin arrived at the base of a hill, on the outskirts of the village, and began to go up it. Sakura was the first to reach the top and slowly walked forward. She stopped right before a grave, with the name 'Uzumaki Naruto' engraved on it. The rookies had the grave stone made privately and although Naruto was not confirmed as dead, they all had no hope of his survival. The rest of them came up behind Sakura as Ino took a flower from the bouquet and handed it to Sakura.

The pink haired girl walked up to the grave and set the flower down on it.

"I'm so sorry Naruto," she whispered, "I'm so sorry I asked you to bring him back. It isn't your fault that he's gone, It's mine. You never got to fulfill your dream."

She started to sob and fell to her knees. Ino rushed in behind her and hugged her trying to calm the pink haired girl down. Ino lead her away so that the other gennin could pay their respects also. As it finally came to Hinata, she burst into tears and had to have Kiba help her place her flower onto the grave. After both Hinata and Sakura had calmed down, and everyone had payed their respects, they left not noticing a masked jounin standing on a tree branch nearby.

_'I'm sorry, Naruto.'_

* * *

**A.N. Sorry for the short chapter guys, but I promise the next one will be longer. Please review :D**

**-Namikaze**


	4. A Pure Cause : Chapter 3

**Here is another chapter! I hope you guys are liking the story so far**.

**Please review, it gives me motivation to continue writing this story when I know I have readers.**

**Enjoy! :D**

**-Namikaze**

**Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto, all rights go to Masashi Kishimoto.**

**A Pure Cause : Chapter 3**

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, and Itachi sat in silence. The gennin had grown tired and lay back down in their respective futons, as they knew Itachi had finished the conversation. The hooded Akatsuki member had his head tilted down as if he was sleeping. Sasuke turned to Naruto and got his attention by punching the blonde's side. Naruto grimaced and turned to Sasuke, ready to hit him back, but he saw the Uchiha's serious expression and decided against it. Not trusting that the hooded man was asleep, Sasuke resorted to sign language taught to them by Kakashi, for situations like this.

**'You don't actually trust him, do you?'**, the raven haired boy signed.

**'Of course I don't'**, Naruto signed back.

**'Then why are you acting like you do?'b**

**'We could gain the advantage.'**

Sasuke stared at his friend, confused.

**'And how is that?'** He signed. Naruto glanced over to Itachi to make sure he wasn't looking their way. As soon as he confirmed that the hooded man was not aware of their actions, he turned back to Sasuke.

**'If he thinks we trust him, he will be more careless. As soon as his guard is down, we attack and run. So I suggest you start acting like you trust him** **too.'** He signed. Sasuke smirked, he knew that Naruto was much smarter than everyone thought he was. Sasuke noticed that the teachers in the academy were sabotaging Naruto's development, so the blonde played along.

**'There's a problem with your plan there, Dobe.'** He signed. Naruto looked at him curiously, ignoring the insult,

**'And that would be?'**

**'First off, we have no idea what his skill level is. Judging from how fast he would have to be to save us, and get out of the valley, before any Konoha nin arrived, he's probably jounin or maybe ANBU level even.'**

Naruto nodded, he had a point,

**'Second,'** Sasuke continued,** 'There is the problem of his partner. We don't know when he arrives, or how strong he could be. And finally, we don't know where in Kumo we are, or how many allies they have around the area.'** The gennin finished. Naruto stared at Sasuke for a few seconds.

**'Good point'** he finally signed. Naruto wasn't fond of the situation either. He'd been captured by an Akatsuki member, and was probably going to have the Kyuubi extracted from him. Resulting in his death.

**'So then, what do you suggest we do?'** Naruto signed to Sasuke. The Uchiha paused for a moment, before signing,

**'Wait it out. Wait for the perfect moment to strike, so that it doesn't matter how skilled he or his partner are. Besides, if he wanted us dead he would've killed us already, or left us to die in the Valley.'**

Naruto nodded, and turned back over in his futon. He fell asleep, and started to dream about Konoha.

* * *

Naruto jerked out of his futon as a result of a backpack being thrown onto his face.

"Wake up" Itachi commanded, before turning to his younger brother and throwing a similar backpack onto the boy's stomach. Naruto stood painfully, as he had not completely healed from his fight the day before, as Sasuke jerked up in his futon. The Uchiha growled at Itachi and stood also.

"What's with the backpacks?" Naruto asked.

"They contain clothing that you are required to wear for our journey."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Naruto said, looking down at his bright orange and blue jumpsuit. Sasuke and Itachi stared at Naruto.

"Are you serious?" Sasuke continued to stare at Naruto.

"Too much attention." Itachi stated bluntly.

"And you look absolutely stupid" Sasuke added. Naruto hung his head and sighed, defeated.

"Wait, why are we going on this 'journey' without your partner?" Naruto asked, adding in air quotes on the word, journey.

"He has decided to meet us at our second destination, a few things came up that needed taking care of."

Sasuke and Naruto glanced at each other suspiciously.

"Change into your clothes so we can get going." The two boys nodded and opened up their backpacks.

* * *

A few minutes later, and both boys had changed. They both wore a long sleeved black shirt, with pants the same color, and a gray vest over the shirt. They also had gray metal protectors on their forearms, and shins, with black ninja sandals. Overall the outfit looked very similar to an ANBU uniform.

"Matching outfits, great." Naruto stated with sarcasm. Sasuke didn't exactly like the fact that he had to wear the same clothing as Naruto but brushed it off. Itachi tossed them two black cloaks and said,

"Put those on, then we can get moving." The boys did as they were told, and then followed the man through an opening in the wall, and into a set of corridors. The passages were extremely confusing, and if you ever lost your way, you were done for. As the trio, winded through the halls of the mountain, the gennin were starting to think that Itachi had lost his way. They had been walking for around twenty minutes now and Sasuke decided to speak up.

"Are you sure we are going the right way? I mean, we've been walking for a while now."

Itachi said nothing and just kept on walking. Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other, and Naruto shrugged. After another ten minutes, the hooded man finally stopped at a dead end. Naruto sighed and Sasuke growled in annoyance, but then Itachi slammed his hands on the floor and the wall in front of them crumbled to reveal a vast mountain range. Naruto whistled at the amount of snow tipped mountains. The blonde was about to step forward when he was stopped by Itachi who stood next to him. Sasuke tensed and Naruto was ready to attack until the hooded man pointed down. The boy looked down and saw that the opening they were standing in was about half a mile high from the base of the mountain.

"T-thanks" Naruto said, and Itachi nodded. He then spoke,

"Do as I do."

Itachi then infused his feet to the side of the mountain using chakra, and started to walk up it. Sasuke followed, and Naruto did the same. It took only a few minuts to reach the top of the mountain. They could see for miles from their hight and could see Kumo only a few miles away. Itachi turned east and pointed to where they could see a small village.

"That is Kutei, a small village supported by The Hidden Cloud, for refugee's from the civil war in Kirigakure. In exchange, the refugee's supply Kumo with crops, and money made from it's trade business." Itachi told them.

"It is also our first destination." He said. The gennin nodded, as they gazed at the small town.

"So we are going to hike then?" Sasuke asked, and received a nod from the hooded man.


End file.
